Monday, December 17, 2012

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season with lots of family and friends and time spent relaxing--don't hate me because I'll be doing it in Hawaii! :) I'm taking a few weeks off blogging but will be back in January ready to catch up with everyone. Merry Christmas!

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Yes, it's my birthday once again. And what an exciting year it's been. Of course, reflecting on all that I've accomplished and all that I hope to, I'm reminded again what quirky people we writers are.

Case in point: I had $50 to spend on myself for my birthday. What did I buy? Why, fifty dollars worth of nail polish, of course. What??? Yes, nail polish. And I don't even like to wear nail polish on my fingernails. Yeah.

See, this past November I had a little too much fun playing around on this website. The MC of my Nano book likes to paint her nails a different color every day to suit her mood, and the colors have funky names like Purple With A Purpose, A Good Man-darin Is Hard To Find, and Teal The Cows Come Home. I ended up using eight different colors in my book, each with a special meaning based on their name/shade.

And even though I've still got a ton of revising to do and who knows if anyone will ever be interested in this book and the nail polish thing might not even make it to the final draft...I kinda freaked out. Because OPI is unlikely to carry all these colors for very long, and what if my colors and their unique names are discontinued? I could lose my chance to own this special part of my book. So I splurged and bought a bottle of each color. Pretty sensible, right?

Um...

I'm hoping it's not just me, and that all writers are quirky as a whole. Tell me, what quirky things have you done in relation to your book/writing? Or even books you've read? (I know I'm not the only one with a mockingjay pin)

I'll leave you with a song that makes me cry EVERY SINGLE TIME I listen to it. And no, not because of Bella and Edward. It's my theme song to that one scene from that one book that was literally the hardest scene I've ever written to date. And it still affects me so much...what a weirdo, right?

That's okay, it's my birthday. I can cry if I want to. :) Excuse me while I go paint my toes a pretty shade of Kiss Me On My Tulips.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Let's rewind back to NaNoWriMo 2011. Kelley Lynn was one of my Nano buddies, and I still remember when she told me she was ditching her Nano book halfway through the month and starting on something completely new. Whaaa??? I may have freaked out just a little bit, but she knew she had to follow her gut. Not only did she WIN Nano with the new book (she wrote it in ten days!!!), she landed a book deal with it too. Way to trust that gut, girl! I'm so glad to be participating in the cover reveal for that book, so take it away, Kelley:

Wow. I can't believe the day is here! Time for the FRACTION OF STONE cover reveal.

Before we get into that, I just want to say thank you to everyone who has helped me get this far. All the fine people who are helping with this cover reveal, my CPs/Betas, family and friends. And of course, thank you to Sapphire Star Publishing for helping make my dream a reality. (And also letting me have a huge say in how this cover looks.) I am so, so excited and feel so blessed.

To thank you all, there is a drawing for 2 ARCs of FRACTION OF STONE which you can enter to win at the bottom of this post! You can enter until December 14th at which point the winners will be chosen.

Eventually the day came when the voices in Kelley Lynn’s head were more insistent then her engineering professor’s. So instead of turning to her Thermodynamics book, Kelley brought up a blank page on her computer screen and wrote. Somewhere along the way she became a Young Adult author.

Kelley was born and raised a Midwestern girl. She’s not afraid to sweat and fills her free time with softball, soccer and volleyball. (Though you probably don’t want her on your volleyball team.) She occasionally makes guest appearances as a female vocalist for area bands.

You can find Kelley hanging out at her blog, titled in her name, as well as the group blog she shares with her fellow critique partners, Falling for Fiction. Kelley is a member of the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators.

She's so awesome, right? I can't wait to read this book. And here's a treat for you all. Today's song is Lost in Paradise by Evanescnese, the song Kelley says is so, so perfect for Fraction of Stone. Enjoy, and don't forget to sign up on the Rafflecopter below!

Thursday, December 6, 2012

There are so many ways to tell the same story, and sometimes it gets overwhelming deciding how to do it.
First, you've got points of view. In a nutshell:
First person: I, weSecond person: youThird person: he, she
Then you can have alternating POV's in the same story. And if your narrator is a character, he/she doesn't even have to be the protagonist, either. Yipes.
Next, you have to decide if the reader gets to know the internal thoughts of the narrator.

Is the narrator an actual character in the story? And is he/she reliable or unreliable? Oh, boy. You could even unfold the story via documents like letters or diary entries. And of course if you choose a third person point of view, you must decide if the narrator will be objective (unbiased) or subjective--conveying the thoughts of the characters. If subjective, will it be limited where the narrator only knows what one character is thinking, or omniscient where he knows everyone's thoughts. Why not take it a step further...universal omniscient--the narrator knows things even the characters don't know. Um...
After you've sorted through that whole mess, you're not done. Oh no. Now choose your narrative time: past tense, present tense, or future tense.

Of course, this is all assuming you already know your target audience (MG, YA, Adult, etc.) and genre (sci-fi, romance, mystery, etc.) and that you've nailed that all elusive "voice" needed to make your book stand out.But wait, are you sure you want to go with fiction to tell your story? Maybe you want to try non-fiction, poetry, a song, painting, or even *gasp* an interpretive dance.

Now even I'm confused. All I know is after trying out several different combinations, I'm very comfortable writing YA sci-fi novels told in first person present tense with a good cabbage patch or sprinkler dance move thrown in for good measure. Mostly kind of maybe for now. What's your preferred narrative mode?

Monday, December 3, 2012

Emily and Tammy, with the help of David Spade, need to give away three Christmas presents, so they're going to interview a group of people, some naughty and some nice, to find those most deserving of Santa's toys.

Here are my answers. Cross your fingers I can impress them with my awesomeness. Because I want All The Things.

1. How many speeding tickets have you gotten?

Zero. Nada. Zilch. Yes, I am THAT perfect. I was pulled over for a headlight out once and got a warning. My husband on the other hand...

2. Can you pitch a tent?

If it comes with those thin poles that elasticize together, and it's a relatively small dome, then YES. Better yet, the kid sized ones that snap into being when you pull it out of the nylon bag. That counts, right?

3. What was your worst vacation ever?

In fourth grade, my class took a trip to the Big Island to see the erupting volcano, and then didn't see it because there was a tsunami warning. We spent our time in a school gym until we got the all clear. Then when we were back home on Oahu, I GOT LEFT AT THE AIRPORT. That's right, the school bus left without me and my BFF (we were in the bathroom) and we cried until some security guard found us and helped us call home. Worst. Vacation. Ever.

4. What was the last thing you bought over $100?

I'd say books (Merry Christmas to me) but I guess those are a bunch of little things, right? So...a brown leather chaise for my writing room. I know--awesomesauce.

5. We're handing you the keys to what?

My new beachfront house in Lanikai. *dreams*

6. What was the last meal you cooked that made even you sick?

Stroganoff. The mushrooms were bad bad bad. We had to dump it and I went out for a tray of orange chicken instead.

7. Fill in the blank: Oh my gosh! Becky, look at her butt! It is so big. She looks like ______?

...one of those rap guys' girlfriends. Oh, am I supposed to be original here? Um, she looks like...me. Haha. Big booty girls unite!

8. What was your first car?

A red Honda Accord. Exciting, I know.

9. Your best friend falls and gets hurt. Do you ask if he/she's okay or laugh first?

Neither. I immediately get down to help her up, ask if she's okay, then glare at anyone who might be laughing.

Saturday, December 1, 2012

I just couldn't resist coming back and saying I had one of the best nights of my life. Ever. I may or may not have cried. Just a little bit. The Killers were amazing. Brandon was insanely incredible live. I could have stayed there forever--dancing and singing and jumping and just plain dying of happiness. Yay!